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1st post here, My Wheels.

two years ago i did my first rebuild of a vintage cruiser. its not a schwinn, its a colorado. ive never heard of them, anyone here?

it was a rust bucket that sat in my dads backyard for about a decade. all the bearings were toast, as were the tires and rims.
here's what it looks like now. i want to get an older seat and maybe flip the handlebars... we'll see.

just recently i grabbed my wife a bike. its a 54 tiger. all original, only missing the shifter. has the 3spd hub and schwinn front rim.

goint to have the rims re laced and slap on some new rubber and crank bearings in it and call it done. anyone know where i can find a shifter and maybe some info on how to hook it up inside the hub?

its a sturmey archer, just under the sa it has a 54 on left and a I2 on the right and "three speed" under all that.

Click to expand...

Well, at least you can bet that the hub is original - the "54" is the year and "12" is the month of manufacturer, IIRC. S-A is, fortunately, still in business and still making 3-speed hubs. More info:http://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html

You can buy new shifters that vintage-style, or several different other styles including twist grips. Bike shops, online sources like Amazon.com have them. Or you can buy used ones from any number of folks here or elsewhere. I think I have one or two extras in my shifter bin.

Nice thing about the Sturmey Archer shifters is that their indexing is the same now as it was in 1950 so you can nab up an original style shifter or a newer style and it can be made to work. One thing you'll likely need though is an indicator chain. They had several different ones through the years but yours is likely a MkI or MkII; you'll just have to measure the axle length.

The indicator threads into the open end of your axle and your shift cable will attach to the end of that. Screw it all the way in, back it off a half turn, then thread your shift cable on until it's drawn tight in first gear. Perfect adjustment.